Intrafamilial Sexual Abuse: Family-of-Origin and Family-of-Procreation Characteristics of Female Adult Victims |
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| Authors: | David K Carson Linda M Gertz Mary Ann Donaldson Stephen A Wonderlich |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Home Economics , University of Wyoming;2. Department of Child Development and Family Science , North Dakota State University;3. The Village Family Service Center , Fargo , North Dakota;4. Division of Psychiatry , University of North Dakota Medical School |
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| Abstract: | We examined connections between incest victims' family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics in a sample of 40 American women who were in treatment for childhood or adolescent experiences of victimization. Retrospective data on their families-of-origin were collected along with their perceptions of current relationships with family members in the three-generational system. Results showed a close association between family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics, especially in the areas of intergenerational intimacy, intergenerational fusion/individuation, and personal authority. A number of significant correlations were also found between subjects' past and present relationships with family-of-origin members and the dimensions of moral and religious orientation, achievement, and intellectual and cultural orientation, conflict, and control in their family-of-procreation. Some aspects of individual adjustment, including alienation, emotional discomfort, and defensiveness, were strongly related to various family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics. |
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